The 2023 fiscal year is the first in which life and health insurers in Canada must present their results under the new IFRS 17 accounting standards.
The transition to new international financial reporting standards has not prevented Assumption Life to increase its profit attributable to policyholders by 16.4% in 2023. The insurer thus brought it to 8.5 million dollars (M$), compared to a profit of $7.3 million in 2022, according to the adjustment to IFRS 17.
Strong sales growth
Assomption Vie achieved growth in individual insurance sales of 42% in 2023, compared to 2022. The insurer has modernized its insurance sales web platform, Liaadding new features.
Lia is not the only explanation. “It’s a combination of several factors,” summarizes Sébastien Dupuispresident and CEO of Assomption Vie, in an interview with the Insurance portal. “It starts with listening to our people, wanting to innovate and make the process easier for the consumer and the advisor. Our three key words for growth are distribution, experience and efficiency. »
Sébastien Dupuis attributes a lot of the credit to internal teams. He cites the representatives recruited in recent years, whose role is “to interact with the advisors”. “We targeted the good ones and they make the difference,” adds Mr. Dupuis.
The CEO of Assomption Vie believes that other internal resources were able to adjust the products and business processes according to market dynamics. “Quebec and Ontario have experienced strong growth,” he says, adding that Assumption Life sales have experienced strong growth in the general agent network. “We have new producers, and more producers producing more,” he says.
The power of small fonts
To grow his business in individual life insurance, Mr. Dupuis is banking on ease of transaction, both for advisors and consumers. It is also banking on its presence in the “small font” niche.
We don’t chase big fonts. We want to be there for the typical Canadian – Sébastien Dupuis
“Our Acadian company was created to help people. We don’t chase big fonts. We want to be there for the typical Canadian. Whether with a policy to cover funeral expenses or your mortgage,” he gives as an example.
The CEO of Assomption Vie wanted to point out that Assomption Vie “was one of the first insurers, if not the first” to offer insurance that advisors can subscribe to online. Assomption Life has offered an electronic platform since 2003. It changed its format in 2013 and gave it the name Liapour Smart insurance software.
Investment record
Assumption Life has experienced even more exceptional growth in investments and retirement. The insurer describes its cumulative sales of $197 million in 2023 as a record. They represent growth of 74% compared to 2022. Sébastien Dupuis reveals that three-quarters of investment sales come from new deposits.
“The investment platform Vesta really facilitated exchanges and transactions with our advisors,” explains Mr. Dupuis. Created in 2020, the platform Vesta made it possible to support the network ofUV Assurance, when the Drummondville mutual left the segregated funds market and concluded an agreement to distribute those of Assomption Vie. The CEO of Assomption Vie affirmed that several other individual retirement savings distribution partnerships were subsequently concluded.
Hyper competitive environment
In group insurance, Sébastien Dupuis says he has achieved his objectives set for 2023, despite a market that he describes as hyper-competitive. Assumption Life achieved sales of $11 million in group insurance premiums in 2023.
Mr. Dupuis says he observes that competitors bid at the lowest price when a group launches a call for tenders. “We do not want to buy business. We want to offer a real experience and work with companies in their challenges. If the group has a bad experience, we will try with them to improve it,” he emphasizes.
Sébastien Dupuis affirms that Assomption Life has improved the retention rate of its groups. “Retention is better than expected, but not significantly,” confides Mr. Dupuis.
Rating maintained
Furthermore, Assomption Vie ended 2023 with assets under management of $2.0 billion. The insurer says it has posted an “A-Excellent” rating from the financial rating agency for the 24th consecutive year. AM Best.
Its solvency ratio rose to 157%, according to Capital adequacy test of life insurance companies (TSAV) used by the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) to assess the financial strength of insurers. Assumption Life’s LICAT ratio was 158% in 2022. Both measures are under IFRS 17.
2024-03-07 15:55:47
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